Southern  Division. 


United  States  of  America,  petitioner, 

v. 

Pacific  Coast  Plumbing  Supply  Asso¬ 
ciation  and  others,  defendants. 


To  the  honorable  the  judges  of  the  Circuit  Court  of  the 
United  States  for  the  Southern  District  of  Cali¬ 
fornia  sitting  in  equity: 

The  United  States  of  America,  by  A.  I.  McCor¬ 
mick,  its  attorney  for  the  Southern  District  of  Cali¬ 
fornia,  acting  under  the  direction  of  its  Attorney 
General,  brings  this  proceeding  in  equity  against — 
Pacific  Coast  Plumbing  Supply  Association, 
National  Committee  of  the  Confederated  Sup¬ 
ply  Associations,  H.  R.  Boynton  Co.,  A.  H. 
Busch  Co.,  Crane  Co.,  Harper  &  Reynolds  Co., 
Holbrook,  Merrill  &  Stetson,  W.  W.  Montague 
&  Co.,  The  Tay  Co.  of  Los  Angeles,  N.  O.  Nelson 
Manufacturing  Co.,  Dalziel-Moller  Co.,  Haines, 

18872—11 - 1 


2 


Jones  &  Cadbury,  R.  W.  Kinney  Co.,Mark-Lally 
Co.,  The  George  H.  Tay  Co.,  Miller-Enwright 
Co.,  P.  F.  Howard  Co.,  Western  Metal  Supply 
Co.,  The  Gauld  Co.,  M.  L.  Kline,  California 
Steam  and  Plumbing  Supply  Co.,  The  Peerless 
Pacific  Co.,  Bowles  Co.,  The  A.  Hambach 
Co.,  Holley-Mason  Hardware  Co.,  Hughes  & 
Co.,  Walsh  &  Gardner,  William  H.  Burnham, 
H.  M.  Haldeman,  C.  H.  Roddan,  B.  N.  Coff¬ 
man,  C.  L.  Moore,  S.  W.  Hughes,  A1  E. 
Goddard,  Frank  S.  Hanley,  A.  H.  Busch, 
Thomas  A.  Burk,  F.  H.  Knapp,  C.  W.  Weld, 
Jud  Saeger,  F.  A.  Nitchey,  Lewis  B.  Peeples, 
Charles  F.  Harper,  C.  C.  Reynolds,  Isaac  B. 
Newton,  Charles  Holbrook,  William  Swartley, 
H.  Morris,  E.  A.  Blodgett,  W.  W.  Montague, 
A.  A.  Watkins,  A.  Cheminant,  L.  Kimble,  Carl 
Parker,  Francis  J.  Baker,  W.  S.  Babson, 
John  J.  Foy,  James  Dalziel,  Andrew  Dalziel, 
H.  C.  Marsh,  Ralph  W.  Kinney,  J.  H.  Wright, 
Harry  T.  Lally,  Clarence  Mark,  T.  L.  En- 
wright,  D.  M.  Miller,  G.  A.  Burns,  P.  F. 
Howard,  Alice  T.  Corrigan,  B.  W.  McKenzie, 
W.  H.  Beckett,  Charles  Gauld,  H.  D.  Curtis, 
M.  L.  Kline,  George  R.  Smith,  H.  F.  Weaver, 
C.  D.  Bowles,  Albert  Hambach,  A.  E.  Koephli, 
F.  H.  Mason,  J.  M.  Dutton,  E.  J.  Walsh, 
A.  R.  Gardner,  E.  H.  Hughes,  Alfred  A.  Fowle, 
and  Joseph  R.  Whalen. 

The  defendants  above  named,  engaged  in  inter¬ 
state  and  foreign  trade  and  commerce  in  plumbing 


3 


Y\  \  t  ^ 

supplies,  are  violating  the  provisions  of  the  act  of 
Congress  passed  July  2,  1890,  entitled  “ An  act  to 
protect  trade  and  commerce  against  unlawful  re¬ 
straints  and  monopolies/’  and  this  proceeding  is 
instituted  to  prevent  and  restrain  the  hereinafter 
particularly  described  contracts,  combinations,  and 
conspiracies  in  restraint  of  and  restraints  upon 
interstate  and  foreign  trade  in  such  articles,  the 
attempts  to  monopolize  and  the  combinations  and 
conspiracies  to  monopolize  said  trade  and  commerce. 

On  information  and  belief  your  petitioner  alleges 
and  shows: 

I. 

The  defendant,  Pacific  Coast  Plumbing  Supply 
Association,  is  an  unincorporated  association  with 
offices  at  San  Francisco,  Cal.,  and  is  composed  of 
numerous  persons,  firms,  and  corporations  engaged  in 
business  as  jobbers  or  wholesalers  of  plumbing  sup¬ 
plies  and  located  in  the  states  of  California,  Wash¬ 
ington,  and  Oregon. 

The  defendant,  National  Committee  of  the  Confed¬ 
erated  Supply  Associations,  is  a  corporation  organized 
and  existing  under  the  laws  of  the  State  of  New  York, 
with  its  principal  office  in  the  city  of  New  York. 

H.  R.  Boynton  Co.  is  a  corporation  organized  under 
the  laws  of  the  State  of  California,  with  its  principal 
place  of  business  at  Los  Angeles,  Cal. 

A.  H.  Busch  Co.  is  a  corporation  organized  under 
the  laws  of  the  State  of  California,  with  its  principal 
offices  at  Los  Angeles,  Cal. 


4 


Crane  Co.  is  a  corporation  organized  under  the 
laws  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  with  offices  at  Los  Angeles, 

San  Francisco,  Oakland,  Cal.;  Portland,  Oreg.;  Seat¬ 
tle,  Tacoma,  and  Spokane,  Wash. 

Harper  &  Reynolds  Co.  is  a  corporation  organized 
under  the  laws  of  the  State  of  California,  with  its 
principal  office  at  Los  Angeles,  Cal. 

Holbrook,  Merrill  &  Stetson  is  a  corporation 
organized  under  the  laws  of  the  State  of  California, 
with  its  offices  at  Los  Angeles  and  San  Francisco,  Cal. 

W.  W.  Montague  &  Co.  is  a  corporation  organized 
under  the  laws  of  the  State  of  California,  with  offices 
at  Los  Angeles  and  San  Francisco,  Cal. 

The  Tay  Co.  of  Los  Angeles  is  a  corporation 
organized  under  the  laws  of  the  State  of  California, 
with  offices  at  Los  Angeles,  Cal. 

N.  0.  Nelson  Manufacturing  Co.  is  a  corporation 
organized  under  the  laws  of  the  State  of  Missouri, 
with  offices  at  Los  Angeles  and  San  Francisco,  Cal. 

Dalziel-Moller  Co.  is  a  corporation  organized  under 
the  laws  of  the  State  of  California,  with  its  principal 
office  at  San  Francisco,  Cal. 

Haines,  Jones  &  Cadbury  is  a  corporation  organized 
under  the  laws  of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania,  with 
offices  at  San  Francisco,  Cal.,  and  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

R,  W.  Kinney  Co.  is  a  corporation  organized  under 
the  laws  of  the  State  of  California,  with  offices  at 
Oakland  and  San  Francisco,  Cal.  s 

Mark-Lally  Co.  is  a  corporation  organized  under 
the  laws  of  the  State  of  Nevada,  with  principal  office 
at  San  Francisco,  Cal. 


5 


The  George  H.  Tay  Co.  is  a  corporation  organized 
under  the  laws  of  the  State  of  California,  with  prin¬ 
cipal  offices  at  San  Francisco,  Cal. 

California  Steam  and  Plumbing  Supply  Co.  is  a 
corporation  organized  under  the  laws  of  the  State  of 
California,  with  its  principal  office  at  San  Francisco, 
Cal. 

Miller-Enwright  Co.  is  a  corporation  organized 
under  the  laws  of  the  State  of  California,  with  prin¬ 
cipal  offices  at  Sacramento,  Cal. 

P.  F.  Howard  Co.  is  a  corporation  organized  under 
the  laws  of  the  State  of  California,  with  principal 
office  at  Oakland,  Cal. 

Western  Metal  Supply  Co.  is  a  corporation  organ¬ 
ized  under  the  laws  of  the  State  of  California,  with 
its  principal  office  at  San  Diego,  Cal. 

The  Gauld  Co.  is  a  corporation  organized  under 
the  laws  of  the  State  of  Oregon,  with  its  principal 
office  at  Portland,  Oreg. 

M.  L.  Kline  is  an  individual  residing  and  doing 
business  at  Portland,  Oreg. 

The  Peerless  Pacific  Co.  is  a  corporation  organized 
under  the  laws  of  the  State  of  Oregon,  with  its  prin¬ 
cipal  office  at  Portland,  Oreg. 

Bowles  Co.  is  a  corporation  organized  under  the 
laws  of  the  State  of  Washington,  with  principal  offices 
at  Seattle,  Wash. 

The  A.  Hambach  Co.  is  a  corporation  organized 
under  the  laws  of  the  State  of  Washington,  with  its 
principal  office  at  Seattle,  Wash. 


6 


Holley-Mason  Hardware  Co.  is  a  corporation 
organized  under  the  laws  of  the  State  of  Washington, 
with  its  principal  office  at  Spokane,  Wash. 

Hughes  &  Co.  is  a  partnership  with  its  principal 
office  at  Spokane,  Wash. 

Walsh  &  Gardner  is  a  partnership,  with  their 
principal  office  at  Tacoma,  Wash. 

Said  defendants  will  be  hereinafter  referred  to  as 
“  corporation  defendants”  and  “ defendants.” 

The  individuals  made  defendants  herein  and  here¬ 
after  called  u  individual  defendants”  and  “  defend¬ 
ants”  are,  respectively,  officers  and  managers  of  the 
several  corporation  defendants,  or  members  of  said 
partnerships,  as  follows: 

H.  M.  Haldeman  and  C.  H.  Roddan  are  president 
and  acting  secretary,  respectively,  and  B.  N.  Coff¬ 
man,  C.  L.  Moore,  S.  W.  Hughes,  and  A1  E.  Goddard 
are  assistant  secretaries  of  the  Pacific  Coast  Plumbing 
Supply  Association  and  are  located  at  Los  Angeles, 
Seattle,  Portland,  and  Sacramento,  respectively. 

Frank  S.  Hanley  is  secretary  of  defendant  National 
Committee  of  the  Confederated  Supply  Associations 
and  resides  in  New  York. 

William  H.  Burnham  and  H.  M.  Halderman  are 
president  and  vice  president,  respectively,  of  H.  R. 
Boynton  Co.,  Los  Angeles. 

A.  H.  Busch,  Thomas  A.  Burk,  and  F.  H.  Knapp 
are  president,  secretary,  and  manager,  respectively, 
of  A.  H.  Busch  Co.,  Los  Angeles. 


7 


C.  W.  Weld,  Jud  Saeger,  F.  A.  Nitchey,  and  Lewis  B. 
Peeples  are  local  managers  of  the  Crane  Co.,  at  San 

Francisco,  Los  Angeles,  Portland,  and  Seattle,  re¬ 
spectively. 

Charles  F.  Harper,  C.  C.  Reynolds,  and  Isaac  B. 
Newton  are,  respectively,  president,  vice  president, 
and  secretary  of  the  Harper  &  Reynolds  Co. 

Charles  Holbrook  and  William  Swartley  are  presi¬ 
dent  and  secretary  and  H.  Morris  and  E.  A.  Blodgett 
are  managers  of  Holbrook,  Merrill  &  Stetson  at  Los 
Angeles  and  San  Francisco,  respectively. 

W.  W.  Montague  and  A.  A.  Watkins  are  president 
and  vice  president,  and  A.  Cheminant  and  L.  Kimble 
are  managers  of  W.  W.  Montague  &  Co.  at  San 
Francisco  and  Los  Angeles,  respectively. 

Carl  Parker,  Francis  J.  Baker,  and  W.  S.  Babson 
are,  respectively,  president,  first  vice  president,  and 
secretary  of  The  Tay  Co.  of  Los  Angeles. 

J.  J.  Foy  is  local  manager  of  the  N.  O.  Nelson 
Manufacturing  Co.  of  Los  Angeles. 

James  Dalziel  and  Andrew  Dalziel,  are,  respectively, 
president  and  secretary  of  the  Dalziel  Moller  Co. 

Ii.  C.  Marsh  is  local  manager  of  Haines,  Jones  & 
Cadbury,  at  San  Francisco. 

Ralph  W.  Kinney  and  J.  H.  Wright  are  president 
and  secretary,  respectively,  of  the  R.  W.  Kinney  Co. 

Harry  T.  Lally  and  Clarence  Mark  are,  respectively, 
president  and  secretary  of  the  Mark-Lally  Co. 

T.  L.  Enwright,  D.  M.  Miller,  and  G.  A.  Burns  are 
president,  secretary,  and  local  manager  of  the  Miller- 
Enwright  Co. 


8 


P.  F.  Howard  and  Alice  T.  Corrigan  are  president 
and  secretary,  respectively,  of  the  P.  F.  Howard  Co. 

B.  W.  McKenzie  and  W.  H.  Beckett  are  president 
and  secretary,  respectively,  of  the  Western  Metal 
Supply  Co. 

Charles  Gauld  and  H.  D.  Curtiss  are  president  and 
secretary,  respectively,  of  the  Gauld  Co. 

George  R.  Smith  and  H.  F.  Weaver  are,  respec¬ 
tively,  president  and  secretary  of  the  Peerless  Pacific 
Co. 

C.  D.  Bowles  is  president  of  the  Bowles  Co. 

Albert  Hambach  and  A.  E.  Koephli  are,  respec¬ 
tively,  president  and  manager  of  the  A.  Hambach  Co. 

F.  H.  Mason  and  J.  M.  Dutton  are,  respectively, 
president  and  secretary  of  the  Holley-Mason  Hard¬ 
ware  Co. 

E.  J.  Walsh  and  A.  R.  Gardner  are  members  of  the 
firm  of  Walsh  &  Gardner. 

E.  H.  Hughes  is  a  member  of  the  partnership 
Hughes  &  Co. 

Alfred  A.  Fowle  and  Joseph  R.  Whalen  are,  respec¬ 
tively,  president  and  secretary  of  California  Steam  and 
Plumbing  Supply  Co. 

The  Christian  names  of  the  defendants,  except  as 
stated,  are  unknown  to  your  petitioner. 

All  of  said  individual  defendants  are  officers, 
managers,  or  members  of  the  corporations  and 
partnerships  as  above  stated,  and  as  such  participate 
in  the  management  and  direction  of  the  business  of 
such  corporations  and  partnerships,  defendants  herein, 
and  are  responsible  therefor. 


9 


II. 

Description  of  business. 

The  defendants  named  above  have  their  places  of 
business,  as  stated,  in  the  States  of  California,  Oregon, 
and  Washington.  For  many  years  they  severally 
have  been  and  are  now  engaged  in  business  as  jobbers 
or  wholesalers  of  plumbing  supplies.  Plumbing  sup¬ 
plies  consist  of  brass  work,  earthenware,  enameled  tubs, 
and  lavatories,  lead  pipe,  traps  and  bends,  range  boil¬ 
ers,  sinks,  soil  pipe  and  fittings,  tanks,  seats,  and  similar 
articles.  Throughout  the  United  States,  and  located 
in  States  other  than  the  States  of  California,  Wash¬ 
ington,  and  Oregon,  there  are  many  manufac¬ 
turers  of  plumbing  supplies  who  sell  and  ship  such 
articles  to  persons  throughout  the  United  States  and 
more  particularly  to  persons,  firms,  and  corporations 
doing  business  in  California,  Washington,  and 
Oregon.  The  defendants  send  orders  for  the  purchase 
and  shipment  of  plumbing  supplies  to  such  manu¬ 
facturers,  and  in  pursuance  of  such  orders  plumbing 
supplies  are  shipped  from  the  factories  of  such 
manufacturers  located  in  such  States  to  the  places 
of  business  of  the  defendants  and  are  received  by 
them  at  said  places  of  business.  In  carrying  on  their 
business  as  jobbers  or  wholesalers  in  plumbing  sup¬ 
plies  defendants  sell  and  ship  to  their  customers  the 
plumbing  supplies  which  they  have  received  pur¬ 
suant  to  the  orders  above  described,  said  customers 
being  retail  dealers  in  plumbing  supplies  and  master 
plumbers  located  in  the  States  of  California,  Wash- 

18872—11 — 2 


10 


ington,  Oregon,  Arizona,  and  Nevada,  and  in  the 
foreign  countries  of  Mexico  and  Central  America. 
These  sales  and  shipments  by  the  defendants  to 
customers  in  other  States  and  foreign  countries 
are  made  pursuant  to  orders  received  from  such 
customers.  In  carrying  on  business  in  the  manner 
aforesaid  said  defendants  and  said  manufacturers 
have  been  and  now  are  engaged  in  interstate  and 
foreign  trade  and  commerce  in  plumbing  supplies 
within  the  meaning  of  the  act  of  Congress  of  July 
2,  1890,  entitled  “An  act  to  protect  trade  and  com¬ 
merce  against  unlawful  restraints  and  monopolies.” 

Of  the  total  volume  of  the  interstate  and  foreign 
trade  and  commerce  in  plumbing  supplies  being  car¬ 
ried  on  by  corporations,  firms,  and  individuals  in  the 
States  of  California,  Washington,  and  Oregon  in  the 
manner  aforesaid,  the  defendants  above  named  have 
and  control  the  principal  part — that  is  to  say,  90  per 
cent  thereof. 

Because  the  said  corporation  defendants  have  been 
in  fact  separate  and  distinct  from  each  other,  the 
defendants  and  all  others  so  engaged  in  said  inter¬ 
state  and  foreign  commerce  would  severally  be 
now  conducting  then  said  interstate  and  foreign  busi¬ 
ness,  trade,  and  commerce  in  said  plumbing  supplies, 
in  competition  with  each  other,  as  to  all  matters 
in  respect  to  which  genuine  competitors  naturally 
compete ;  and  trade  and  commerce  therein  would  now 
be  free  and  unrestrained,  and  any  and  all  other  per¬ 
sons,  firms,  or  corporations  seeking  to  engage  in  said, 
interstate  and  foreign  commerce  in  plumbing  sup- 


11 


plies  would  have  been  and  would  now  be  able 
to  engage  therein,  if  the  said  defendants  had  not 
engaged  and  were  not  now  engaging  in  the  unlawful 
combination  and  conspiracy  in  restraint  of  said  inter¬ 
state  and  foreign  trade  aud  commerce  and  in  the 
unlawful  attempt  to  monopolize  the  same,  which  will 
be  hereinafter  described. 

III. 

The  Combination  and  Conspiracy. 

On  or  about  January  1,  1907,  the  defendants  un¬ 
lawfully  and  knowingly  engaged  in  a  combination 
and  conspiracy,  hereinafter  described,  in  restraint  of 
the  above-described  interstate  and  foreign  trade 
and  commerce  being  carried  on  in  plumbing  sup¬ 
plies,  and  since  that  year  they  have  continuously 
maintained  said  combination  and  conspiracy,  and  are 
nowT  engaged  therein.  The  defendants  have  engaged 
in  said  combination  and  conspiracy  with  the  unlaw¬ 
ful  object  and  purpose  of  confining  and  restricting 
all  interstate  and  foreign  commerce  in  plumbing  sup¬ 
plies  in  the  States  of  California,  Washington,  and 
Oregon  to  the  said  defendants  and  of  preventing 
all  others  from  engaging  therein.  The  defendants 
have  also  engaged  in  said  combination  and  con¬ 
spiracy  with  the  object  and  purpose  of  monopoliz¬ 
ing  said  interstate  and  foreign  commerce  in  plumbing 
supplies,  and  of  preventing  any  person  other  than 
themselves  from  obtaining  an  interest  in  or  carrying 
on  any  of  said  trade  and  commerce. 


12 


In  order  to  bring  about  the  desired  ends,  and  with 
the  above-enumerated  purposes,  defendants  have 
adopted  such  means  as  seemed  expedient,  and  more 
particularly  they  have  followed  and  are  now  following 
the  general  lines  of  action  hereinafter  stated  and  will 
continue  to  do  so  unless  prohibited  by  this  honorable 
court. 

First.  During  the  period  aforesaid  defendants  have 
conspired  and  confederated  together  to  prevent 
manufacturers  of  plumbing  supplies  located  through¬ 
out  the  United  States  from  selling  and  shipping 
plumbing  supplies  to  any  persons,  firms,  or  corpora¬ 
tions  located  in  the  States  of  California,  Washington, 
and  Oregon  who  have  not  belonged  to  the  Pacific 
Coast  Plumbing  Supply  Association  and  whose  names 
have  not  been  listed  in  a  book  called  the  “Blue 
Book/’  to  be  hereinafter  described.  The  Pacific 
Coast  Plumbing  Supply  Association  is  an  unincorpo¬ 
rated  association  of  jobbers  of  plumbing  supplies, 
located  in  the  States  of  California,  Washington,  and 
Oregon;  all  the  defendant  corporations  and  part¬ 
nerships,  other  than  defendant  National  Committee 
of  the  Confederated  Supply  Associations,  have  been 
and  are  members  of  said  association,  and  all  mem¬ 
bers  of  said  association  are  defendants  herein.  The 
qualifications  for  membership  therein  are  determined 
by  the  defendants,  and  defendants  arbitrarily  decide 
who  shall  and  who  shall  not  be  admitted.  In  order 
to  force  the  manufacturers  of  plumbing  supplies  to 
refuse  to  sell  and  ship  to  persons  other  than  the  de¬ 
fendants,  defendants  by  agreement  with  each  other 


13 


have  continuously  during  said  period  refused  to  order 
or  buy  plumbing  supplies  from  such  manufacturers 
of  plumbing  supplies  as  have  sold  and  shipped  said 
supplies  to  persons  in  the  States  of  California,  Wash¬ 
ington,  and  Oregon  who  are  not  members  of  the 
Pacific  Coast  Plumbing  Supply  Association  and  are 
not  listed  in  the  Blue  Book. 

Acting  under  agreement  with  each  other,  defend¬ 
ants  have  withdrawn  their  business  from  manufac¬ 
turers  who  have  sold  and  shipped  to  persons  who  have 
refused  to  join  said  Pacific  Coast  Plumbing  Supply 
Association,  or  to  persons  whom  defendants  have  not 
recognized  as  legitimate  jobbers,  and  have  not  admit¬ 
ted  to  membership  therein,  and  defendants  have  boy¬ 
cotted  such  manufacturers  until  they  compelled  them 
to  confine  their  sales  to  defendants. 

Second.  The  defendant  National  Committee  of  the 
Confederated  Supply  Associations,  acting  in  agree¬ 
ment  with  the  other  defendants,  has  since  January  1, 
1907,  printed  from  time  to  time  and  issued  a  list  of 
jobbers  of  plumbing  supplies  in  the  United  States, 
commonly  called  in  the  trade  the  “Blue  Book,”  and 
has  distributed  said  list  to  manufacturers  engaged  in 
the  manufacture  and  sale  of  plumbing  supplies,  and 
to  the  jobbers  named  in  the  Blue  Book.  In  the  Blue 
Book  are  printed  arbitrary  definitions  of  a  manufac¬ 
turer  and  a  jobber  of  plumbing  supplies.  These  defi¬ 
nitions  express  the  opinion  of  the  defendants  as  to  the 
qualifications  necessary  in  order  to  entitle  one  to  be 
called  a  manufacturer  or  jobber  and  to  be  treated  as 
such.  It  is  the  intention  of  the  National  Committee 


14 


and  of  the  defendants  that  the  Blue  Book  shall  be 
considered  by  the  manufacturers  as  containing  the 
names  of  all  persons,  firms,  and  corporations  in  the 
United  States  who  are  legitimate  jobbers  of  plumb¬ 
ing  supplies.  All  the  defendant  corporations  and 
partnerships  (except  the  National  Committee  of  the 
Confederated  Supply  Associations)  are  listed  in  the 
Blue  Book;  furthermore,  these  defendants  are  the 
only  persons,  firms,  or  corporations  located  and  doing 
a  plumbing  business  in  the  States  of  California,  Wash¬ 
ington,  and  Oregon  who  are  named  in  the  Blue  Book. 

During  said  period  no  person,  firm,  or  corporation 
desiring  to  engage  in  business  as  a  jobber  of  plumbing 
supplies  in  the  States  of  California,  Washington,  or 
Oregon  could  be  listed  as  a  jobber  in  the  Blue  Book 
except  at  the  arbitrary  discretion  of  a  majority  of  the 
jobbers  belonging  to  the  Pacific  Coast  Plumbing 
Supply  Association,  and  doing  business  in  the  locality 
where  said  person,  firm,  or  corporation  desired  to  do 
business  as  a  jobber,  and  no  person  can  now  be  so  listed 
except  by  the  consent  of  such  jobbers.  In  order  to 
prevent  an  increase  in  the  number  of  jobbers  of 
plumbing  supplies  in  said  three  States,  defendants, 
agreeing  together,  have  repeatedly  and  arbitrarily 
refused  to  give  their  consent  to  the  listing  in  the  Blue 
Book  of  persons,  firms,  and  corporations  desirous  of 
engaging  in  business  as  jobbers  in  said  States. 

During  the  period  aforesaid,  by  agreement  with  each 
other,  defendants  continuously  have  boycotted  and 
refused  to  buy  plumbing  supplies  from  such  manu¬ 
facturers  as  have  sold  and  shipped  such  supplies 


% 


15 


to  persons,  firms,  and  corporations  located  in  the 
States  of  California,  Oregon,  and  Washington  who 
have  not  been  listed  in  said  Blue  Book.  By  rea¬ 
son  of  the  fact  that  during  the  said  period  the 
defendants  have  controlled,  and  do  now  control, 
90  per  cent  of  the  total  volume  of  the  interstate 
and  foreign  trade  and  commerce  in  plumbing 
supplies  carried  on  by  corporations  and  individuals 
in  the  States  of  California,  Washington,  and  Oregon, 
the  defendants,  by  adopting  the  practices  and 
methods  hereinabove  described,  have  been  and 
now  are  enabled  to  compel  and  coerce,  and  do  now 
compel  and  coerce,  the  manufacturers  of  plumbing 
supplies  into  refusing  to  sell  and  ship  plumbing  sup¬ 
plies  to  corporations  and  individuals  not  listed  in  the 
Blue  Book  and  not  members  of  the  Pacific  Coast 
Plumbing  Supply  Association.  By  the  means  indi¬ 
cated,  and  with  the  intent  of  limiting  the  number  of 
jobbers  in  the  States  of  California,  Washington,  and 
Oregon,  defendants  have  prevented,  and  are  now 
preventing,  other  persons  in  said  States  from  engaging 
in  interstate  and  foreign  trade  and  commerce  as 
jobbers  of  plumbing  supplies. 

Third.  The  defendants  have  used  and  are  now 
using  the  defendant  National  Committee  of  the 
Confederated  Supply  Associations,  its  officers  and 
agents,  as  a  bureau  for  the  dissemination  and  cir¬ 
culation  among  the  defendants  and  among  the 
manufacturers  of  plumbing  supplies  of  information 
respecting  manufacturers  who  have  sold  to  persons 
located  in  the  States  of  California,  Washington, 


16 


and  Oregon  who  are  not  members  of  the  Pacific 
Coast  Plumbing  Supply  Association,  and  are  not 
listed  in  the  Blue  Book,  and  information  respecting 
persons  located  in  said  States  who  have  been  and 
are  trying  to  do  an  interstate  and  foreign  business 
as  jobbers  of  plumbing  supplies,  although  not  listed 
in  the  Blue  Book.  The  method  adopted  is  as  follows: 

A  defendant  on  hearing  that  a  manufacturer  has 
sold  or  is  about  to  ship  to  a  person  who  is  not  listed 
on  the  Blue  Book  or  is  not  a  member  of  the  Pacific 
Coast  Plumbing  Supply  Association  advises  the 
secretary  of  the  latter  association  of  that  fact,  who 
thereupon  communicates  with  the  secretary  of  the 
defendant  National  Committee  of  the  Confederated 
Supply  Associations.  The  latter  takes  the  matter 
up  with  the  manufacturer  complained  of  for  the 
purpose  of  inducing  the  manufacturer  not  to  sell 
or  ship  to  the  person  who  is  not  listed  and  not  a 
member  of  said  association,  and  subsequently  com¬ 
municates  to  each  of  the  defendants  by  letter  or 
circular  the  result  of  his  correspondence  with  the 
manufacturer.  If  the  manufacturer  is  obstinate 
and  persists  in  selling  and  shipping  to  the  person  not 
recognized  by  the  defendants  as  a  jobber,  the  defend¬ 
ants  adopt  concerted  action  respecting  said  manu¬ 
facturer,  refusing  to  send  orders  for  or  to  purchase 
goods  from  him,  and  they  continue  the  boycott 
until  he  gives  up  selling  and  shipping  to  the  person 
whom  the  defendants  have  proscribed. 

Similarly,  whenever  a  defendant  hears  that  any 
person  who  is  not  listed  and  not  a  member  of  the 


17 


Pacific  Coast  Plumbing  Supply  Association  is  trying 
to  build  up  a  jobbing  business  in  plumbing  supplies, 
such  defendant  sends  the  person’s  name  to  the  sec- 
retary  of  the  Pacific-JCoast  Plumbing  Supply  Asso¬ 
ciation,  who  thereupon  takes  the  matter  up  with  the 
secretary  of  the  defendant  National  Committee  of 
the  Confederated  Supply  Associations.  The  latter 
communicates  at  once  by  letter  or  circular  with  all 
manufacturers  and  all  jobbers  of  plumbing  supplies, 
advising  them  that  the  person  complained  of  is  not  a 
jobber.  The  effect  of  this  action  is  to  make  it  impos¬ 
sible  thereafter  for  the  person  complained  of  to  get 
supplies.  In  the  manner  indicated,  the  defendants, 
by  concerted  action,  prevent  any  others  than  them¬ 
selves  from  engaging  in  the  States  of  California, 
Washington,  and  Oregon  in  interstate  and  foreign 
trade  and  commerce  as  jobbers  of  plumbing  supplies. 


In  pursuance  of  the  conspiracy  to  restrain  trade 
and  commerce  in  plumbing  supplies  among  the  several 
States  as  aforesaid,  and  to  carry  out  said  combination 
and  conspiracy,  the  defendants  during  the  period 
aforesaid  met  annually  for  the  election  of  officers  and 
an  executive  committee.  At  each  of  the  annual 
meetings  of  said  Pacific  Coast  Plumbing  Supply 
Association  a  committee  called  the  executive  com¬ 
mittee,  and  consisting  of  representatives  of  the  job¬ 
bers  and  wholesalers  constituting  said  association,  was 
elected  with  power  and  authority  to  represent  and  act 
for  said  association  in  all  matters,  and  more  particularly 


18 


in  order  to  compel  manufacturers  of  plumbing  supplies 
to  confine  their  sales  and  shipments  of  said  supplies 
to  the  said  defendants  and  to  those  jobbers  listed  on 
said  Blue  Book. 

At  such  annual  meetings  of  said  association,  and 
also  at  the  meetings  of  the  executive  committee  of 
said  association,  it  was  determined  what  manufac¬ 
turers  engaged  in  selling  and  shipping  such  plumbing 
supplies  among  the  several  States  had  sold  or  shipped 
to  any  persons  in  the  States  of  California,  Oregon, 
and  Washington  other  than  the  defendants,  members 
of  said  association,  and  the  secretary  was  instructed 
to  notify  each  and  all  of  said  defendants  of  such 
facts,  the  intent  and  purpose  being  to  induce  all 
of  said  defendants  to  refuse  to  purchase  plumbing 
supplies  from  any  such  manufacturer  and  to  force 
manufacturers  engaged  in  interstate  commerce  to 
confine  their  sales  and  shipments  of  plumbing  sup¬ 
plies  in  interstate  commerce  to  the  said  defendants, 
members  of  said  associations,  and  to  the  jobbers 
listed  on  said  Blue  Book. 

IV. 

Jurisdiction. 

The  petitioner  avers  that  the  combination  and 
conspiracy  to  restrain  the  interstate  and  foreign 
trade  and  commerce  in  plumbing  supplies  still  exists; 
that  the  defendants  are  carrying  out  the  same  within 
the  State  and  Southern  District  of  California,  and 
that  many  of  the  things  herein  complained  of  have 
been  committed  in  whole  and  others  in  part  within 


19 


said  State  and  district,  and  are  now  being  committed 
therein;  that  many  of  the  defendants  enumerated 
above  (petition  pp.  3-8)  are  located  and  doing 
business  within  said  State  and  district. 

Y. 

Prayer. 

In  consideration  whereof,  and  inasmuch  as  your 
orator  can  only  have  adequate  relief  in  the  premises 
in  this  honorable  court,  where  matters  of  this  nature 
are  properly  cognizable  and  relievable,  your  orator 
prays : 

1.  That  it  be  adjudged  that  the  defendants  above 
named  have  entered  into  and  are  now  engaged  in  a 
combination  and  conspiracy  in  restraint  of  trade  and 
commerce  among  the  several  States  and  with  foreign 
nations  in  plumbing  supplies,  such  as  the  act  of  Con¬ 
gress  of  July  2,  1890,  entitled  “An  act  to  protect 
trade  and  commerce  against  unlawful  restraints  and 
monopolies”  denounces  as  illegal,  and  that  the  de¬ 
fendants  be  enjoined  and  prohibited  from  doing 
anything  in  pursuance  or  in  furtherance  of  the  same 
within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  United  States. 

2.  That  the  said  defendants,  and  each  and  all  of 
them,  their  directors,  officers,  agents,  servants,  and 
employees,  and  all  persons  acting  under,  through,  by, 
or  in  behalf  of  them  or  either  of  them,  or  claiming  so 
to  act,  be  perpetually  enjoined,  restrained,  and  pro¬ 
hibited  from  combining,  conspiring,  confederating, 
or  agreeing  together,  or  with  others,  expressly  or  im- 


20 


pliedly,  directly  or  indirectly,  to  prevent  manufac¬ 
turers  of  plumbing  supplies  engaged  in  selling  and 
shipping  plumbing  supplies  among  the  several  States 
from  selling  or  shipping  such  supplies  to  any  person 
who  is  not  a  member  of  the  said  Pacific  Coast  Plumb¬ 
ing  Supply  Association,  or  who  is  not  listed  on  the 
so-called  Blue  Book  published  by  the  said  defend¬ 
ant,  National  Committee  of  the  Confederated  Supply 
Associations,  and  entitled  “  List  of  Jobbers  of  Plumb¬ 
ing  Supplies  in  the  United  States/’  or  any  book, 
pamphlet,  or  list  of  like  character;  and  that  they  and 
all  and  each  of  them  be  likewise  enjoined  and  pro¬ 
hibited  from  publishing,  causing  to  be  published,  or 
aiding  in  the  publication,  distribution,  or  circulation 
of  any  book,  pamphlet,  or  list  wherein  is  contained 
the  names  of  jobbers  of  plumbing  supplies  located 
in  the  territory  embraced  by  the  said  Pacific  Coast 
Plumbing  Supply  Association,  to  wit,  the  States  of 
California,  Washington,  and  Oregon,  who  have  an¬ 
nounced  their  intention  or  agreed,  directly  or  indi¬ 
rectly,  expressly  or  impliedly,  to  work  in  harmony 
with  said  association,  or  who  conform  or  are  supposed 
to  conform  to  the  definition  of  a  jobber  as  given  in 
said  Blue  Book,  or  any  other  arbitrary  definition 
that  may  be  adopted  by  defendants,  or  any  of  them, 
or  by  any  other  body  or  person. 

3.  That  the  said  defendants,  and  each  and  all  of 
them,  their  directors,  officers,  agents,  servants,  and 
employees,  be  enjoined  and  prohibited  from  pub¬ 
lishing  or  distributing  or  aiding  in  the  publication 
or  distribution  of  any  list  or  lists  of  manufacturers  of 


21 


plumbing  supplies  who  have  expressly  or  impliedly, 
directly  or  indirectly,  agreed  to  sell  only  to  members 
of  said  Pacific  Coast  Plumbing  Supply  Association,  or 
only  to  persons,  firms,  or  corporations  listed  in  said 
Blue  Book  or  in  any  book,  pamphlet,  or  list  of  like 
character;  and  that  they  be  enjoined  and  prohibited 
from  circulating  or  causing  to  be  circulated  or  aiding 
in  the  circulation  of  the  name  of  any  manufacturer  of 
plumbing  supplies  who  is  or  may  be  selling  and 
shipping  plumbing  supplies  to  persons,  firms,  or 
corporations  who  are  not  members  of  said  Pacific 
Coast  Plumbing  Supply  Association,  or  who  are  not 
listed  in  said  Blue  Book,  or  any  book,  pamphlet,  or 
list  of  like  character. 

4.  That  the  said  defendants  and  their  directors, 
officers,  agents,  servants,  and  employees  be  enjoined 
and  prohibited  from  circulating  or  causing  to  be  cir¬ 
culated  or  aiding  in  the  circulation  of  the  name  of  any 
person,  firm,  or  corporation,  located  in  the  territory 
embraced  by  the  said  Pacific  Coast  Plumbing  Supply 
Association,  to  wit,  the  States  of  California,  Wash¬ 
ington,  and  Oregon,  who  is  or  may  be  desirous  of 
doing  or  attempting  to  do  an  interstate  and  foreign 
trade  and  commerce  as  a  jobber  of  plumbing  supplies, 
but  who  is  not  a  member  of  said  Pacific  Coast  Plumb¬ 
ing  Supply  Association,  or  listed  in  said  Blue  Book, 
or  any  book,  pamphlet,  or  list  of  like  character,  and 
that  they  be  enjoined  and  prohibited  from  publishing 
or  distributing  or  aiding  in  the  publication  or  distri¬ 
bution  of  any  list  or  lists  of  persons,  firms,  or  corpora¬ 
tions  located  in  said  territory  who  are  not  members  of 


22 


said  Pacific  Coast  Plumbing  Supply  Association,  but 
who  are  attempting  to  do  business  as  jobbers  of 
plumbing  supplies,  though  not  recognized  by  defend¬ 
ants  as  legitimate  jobbers,  and  not  listed  in  said 
Blue  Book,  or  any  book,  pamphlet,  or  list  of  like 
character. 

5.  That  the  said  defendants,  their  directors,  officers, 
agents,  servants,  and  employees,  and  each  and  all  of 
them,  be  enjoined  and  prohibited  from  combining  or 
conspiring  together  to  boycott  any  manufacturer 
engaged  in  interstate  or  foreign  commerce  in  plumb¬ 
ing  supplies,  for  or  on  account  of  any  such  manu¬ 
facturer  having  sold,  or  being  about  to  sell,  plumbing 
supplies  to  any  person,  firm,  or  corporation  who 
is  not  a  member  of  said  Pacific  Coast  Plumbing 
Supply  Association,  or  who  is  not  listed  on  said 
Blue  Book,  or  any  book,  pamphlet,  or  list  of  like 
character,  and  also  from  combining  and  conspiring 
together  to  prevent  any  person,  firm,  or  corporation 
from  being  able  to  purchase  such  plumbing  supplies 
from  manufacturers  of  the  same,  or  from  other  deal¬ 
ers  therein,  and,  further,  from  communicating,  either 
directly  or  indirectly,  with  any  manufacturer  or 
dealer  for  the  purpose  of  inducing  such  manufac¬ 
turer  or  dealer  not  to  sell  plumbing  supplies  to  any 
person,  firm,  or  corporation  because  such  person, 
firm,  or  corporation  is  not  a  member  of  said  associa¬ 
tion,  or  does  not  conform,  or  is  supposed  not  to  con¬ 
form,  to  the  definition  of  a  jobber  as  given  in  said 
Blue  Book,  or  any  other  arbitrary  definition  that  may 


23 


be  adopted  by  defendants,  or  any  of  them,  or  by  any 
other  body  or  person. 

6.  That  the  defendants,  their  officers,  directors, 
agents,  servants,  and  employees,  be  enjoined  and 
prohibited  from  combining,  conspiring,  confederat¬ 
ing,  or  acting  together  to  prevent  any  person,  firm, 
or  corporation  from  engaging  in  interstate  and  for¬ 
eign  trade  and  commerce  as  a  jobber  of  plumbing 
supplies  by  any  of  the  unlawful  means  described  in 
the  petition. 

7.  That  the  defendants,  their  officers,  directors, 
agents,  servants,  and  employees,  be  enjoined  and 
prohibited  from  engaging  in  or  carrying  into  effect  the 
combination  described  in  the  original  petition  and 
adjudged  illegal  hereby,  and  from  engaging  in  or 
entering  into  any  like  combination  or  attempt  to 
monopolize,  the  effect  of  which  would  be  to  restrain 
commerce  in  plumbing  supplies  among  the  several 
States  of  the  United  States  or  in  the  Territories  of  the 
United  States  or  with  foreign  nations,  and  from  mak¬ 
ing  any  express  or  implied  agreement  or  arrangement 
together,  or  one  with  another,  like  that  adjudged 
illegal  herein,  the  effect  of  which  would  be  to  prevent 
the  flow  of  interstate  and  foreign  trade  and  commerce 
in  plumbing  supplies  from  the  manufacturer  to  the 
consumer  from  being  free  and  unrestrained. 

8.  That  the  United  States  may  have  such  other 
and  further  relief  as  the  nature  of  the  case  may  re¬ 
quire  and  the  court  may  deem  proper  in  the  premises. 

To  the  end,  therefore,  that  the  United  States  of 
America  may  obtain  the  relief  to  which  it  is  justly 


24 


entitled  in  the  premises,  may  it  please  your  honors 
to  grant  unto  it  writs  of  subpoena  directed  to  the 
said  defendants — 

Pacific  Coast  Plumbing  Suppty  Association, 
National  Committee  of  the  Confederated  Sup¬ 
ply  Associations,  H.  R.  Boynton  Co.,  A.  H. 
Busch  Co.,  Crane  Co.,  Harper  &  Reynolds 
Co.,  Holbrook,  Merrill  &  Stetson,  W.  W. 
Montague  &  Co.,  The  Tay  Co.  of  Los  An¬ 
geles,  N.  O.  Nelson  Manufacturing  Co.,  Dalziel- 
Moller  Co.,  Haines,  Jones  &  Cadbury,  R.  W. 
Kinney  Co.,  Mark-Lally  Co.,  George  H.  Tay 
Co.,  Miller-Enwright  Co.,  P.  F.  Howard  Co., 
Western  Metal  Supply  Co.,  The  Gauld  Co., 
M.  L.  Kline,  The  California  Steam  and  Plumb¬ 
ing  Supply  Co.,  The  Peerless  Pacific  Co.,  Bowles 
Co.,  The  A.  Hambach  Co.,  Holley-Mason  Hard¬ 
ware  Co.,  Hughes  &  Co.,  Walsh  &  Gardner, 
William  H.  Burnham,  H.  M.  Haldeman, 
C.  H.  Roddan,  B.  N.  Coffman,  C.  L.  Moore, 
S.  W.  Hughes,  A1  E.  Goddard,  Frank  S. 
Hanley,  A.  H.  Busch,  F.  H.  Knapp, 
Thomas  A.  Burk,  C.  W.  Weld,  Jud  Saeger, 
F.  A.  Nitchey,  Lewis  B.  Peeples,  Charles  F. 
Harper,  C.  C.  Reynolds,  Isaac  B.  Newton, 
Charles  Holbrook,  William  Swartley,  H.  Mor¬ 
ris,  E.  A.  Blodgett,  W.  W.  Montague,  A.  A. 
Watkins,  A.  Cheminant,  L.  Kimble,  Carl  Par¬ 
ker,  Francis  J.  Baker,  W.  S.  Babson,  John  J. 
Foy,  James  Dalziel,  Andrew  Dalziel,  H.  C. 
Marsh,  Ralph  W.  Kinney,  J.  H.  Wright, 


25 


Harry  T.  Lally,  Clarence  Mark,  T.  L.  En- 
wright,  D.  M.  Miller,  G.  A.  Burns,  P.  F. 
Howard,  Alice  T.  Corrigan,  B.  W.  McKenzie, 
W.  H.  Beckett,  Charles  Gaulcl,  H.  D.  Curtis, 
M.  L.  Kline,*  George  R.  Smith,  H.  F.  Weaver, 
C.  D.  Bowles,  Albert  Hambach,  A.  E.  Koephli, 
F.  H.  Mason,  J.  M.  Dutton,  E.  J.  Walsh,  A.  R. 
Gardner,  E.  H.  Hughes,  Alfred  A.  Fowle,  and 
Joseph  R.  Whalen, — 

and  each  and  every  one  of  them,  commanding  them 
to  appear  herein  and  answer  the  allegations  con¬ 
tained  in  the  foregoing  petition  and  abide  by  and 
perform  such  orders  and  decree  as  the  court  may 
make  in  the  premises. 

A.  I.  McCormick, 

United  States  Attorney. 

George  W.  Wickersham, 

Attorney  General. 

James  A.  Fowler, 

Assistant  to  the  Attorney  General. 

Edwin  P.  Grosvenor, 

Special  Assistant  to  the  Attorney  General. 


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